It’s been almost twenty-five years since David Lynch’s eerie cult drama Twin Peaks first aired and pulled an entire generation into the depths of its bizarre world. Reflecting a career-long fascination with the darkness concealed behind a facade of the banal, the sleepy town was a fictional realm where nothing was as it seemed. Lynch put it best himself on the poster of his 1992 film Fire Walk With Me (a prologue to the series) with the headline: “In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent.”

Whether it was Agent Cooper’s pristine suits or Audrey Horne’s black and white brogues, for many of us, Twin Peaks left a lasting impression on our collective fashion psyche. Apparently we’re not the only ones, as KENZO’s Pre-Fall 2014 collection is very much a love letter to the warped dualities and complexities that drew us into Lynch's fantastical world. But Carol and Humberto have never been too literal or singular with their references. This pre-collection, which was followed by an artistic collaboration on the set and soundtrack with David Lynch for the Fall/Winter 2014 show, draws on the motifs and codes of Lynch’s Pacific North-West but is re-mixed for today’s digital generation.

Plaid – which holds its own position in American folklore and made oh so many appearances on Lynch’s oddball characters - is twisted and re-worked with bold neon accents (imagine stark ‘90s fluorescent beam lighting via the 20th century artist Dan Flavin – a favourite of the design duo). Further skewing the familiar, the plaid prints of the collection infused with neon, with jagged lines that dart their way across skirts, jumpers and dresses like the eerie visuals of TV static. Shoes and belts are made up from hypnotic prints and serve as optical illusions – a nod to the fact that in Twin Peaks you can’t ever trust the ground you stand on.

Then comes fire. Now, if you’ve ever seen the creation of a Cai Guo-Qiang gunpowder painting then you will understand its parallel state between beauty and destruction. In Twin Peaks, the line “Fire Walk with Me” is ambiguous invitation to the unknown. Carol and Humberto quite literally play with fire in this collection, emblazoning the words as a slogan on knitwear and allowing yellow flames to creep up the back of garments. In their hands, it’s a fearless force of great power.

The interplay of contrasting elements is very much at the core of this collection. Carol and Humberto might have grown up on the West coast, but here they explore the mystery and strangeness of the American Northwest. Silhouettes of mountain peaks adorn garments alongside prints of doors that ultimately lead to nowhere. Just as Lynch sought to explore the human instability that lurks underneath the everyday, Carol and Humberto remind us that modern life is far more exciting when you get to push the limitations of reality.